Active Comments = Conversation = Visibility

Welcome to the Botanical Linguist, today we’ve a guest post from Sarah Arrow of Sarkemedia.com about commenting on blog posts and social media sites. The post is part of her 30 day blogging challenge, you can find joining details at the end of this post.

Day 26 of the challenge.

Since day one I’ve encouraged you to comment on blog posts, ask questions in the Facebook group and like and comment on the posts there. But why? Surely writing and publishing 30 consecutive blog posts is enough!

Commenting makes you more visible.

Several people in the Facebook group have already worked out that by commenting on the posts in the emails they’re more visible. Why are they more visible? Because people click through to read the article, scroll down and see the comments. They’re now more visible, but they’re also increasing links to their site in a non-spammy way.

Commenting in the Facebook group pushes up the content, and it gets seen by more people. Liking other people’s posts means more likes show on the post’s Facebook share counter, so your social proof is increased.

Commenting on other people’s posts also increases your visibility.

Comments increase your visibility tremendously, not just to search engines, but to the people who read the blog posts. But not all comments are equal, and we’ll get onto that in a minute, but first you need to search out other blogs in your industry to comment on. Why? When you comment on blogs in your niche, then you’ll become visible to potential customers.

If you don’t have a reader already, grab one at feedly.com. It’s free. Here you can add all the feeds to other blogs and keep track of them in one place. I have my Feedly app on my tablet and I read it at the end of the day, you can add the Feedly app to any device or browser.

How do you find blog feeds? Check the blog itself. Often people advertise their feeds. If they don’t you can use a Chrome browser extension to locate the feed, and then add it to Feedly. You can also search Feedly for topics and save them to read.

Each day, spend a few minutes checking your feeds. You’ll need to add around 50, because not everyone updates on a weekly basis and not every article is one you can comment on. When you see one you can comment on, click through and comment. Easy.

I mentioned earlier that I have my feeds on my tablet, I keep them there to manage them easier. I do a lot of my commenting when I’m in a queue waiting for something or when I’m in the car (but not when I’m driving of course). Travelling time is a great time to catch up on all the commenting that needs to be done, and time that would otherwise be wasted.

Are all comments equal?

Social comments, like Facebook comments are good for generating traffic. When you comment you have the option to post the comment to your Facebook wall. This brings in more traffic to the blog you’ve commented on, and makes you visible on their blog. All the benefits of this type of commenting are with the blogger and not the commenter.

The same pretty much applies to G+ comments; you’re comment shows on G+ and the blog benefits, you may be added to more circles so that’s something more than Facebook comments will give you.

Disqus / LiveFyre / Intense Debate commenting systems

All of these allow you to login and use your Twitter, Facebook or G+ account to leave a comment. Your blog only benefits if you get an account on these sites and then login to comment. Disqus and LiveFyre have additional benefits like pulling in Twitter conversations under the blog post, and sending email digests of the conversation to you on a regular basis.

Another bonus to using one of these systems is that the spam is reduced on your blog, but the downside is sometimes they chew comments up or mark you as a spammer, and the blog owner doesn’t always know how to fish you out of the spam filter.

Native Comments

When you are asked to comment and leave your name, email address and website details, then that’s a native commenting system. This benefits you, as your name is linked to your website. When someone clicks on your name they’re taken to your website instead of one of your social media profiles.

Sometimes you’ll find a native commenting system that uses Comment Luv, like Angela does here, this means underneath your comment will be a link to your last post, so you get two links with your comment on these sites. A lot of commenters prefer these sites as they get extra visibility.

You need a blend of all of the above, but native commenting systems tend to benefit you more than the social commenting systems.

Quick recap

Comments = Visibility

Not all comments are equal

Add Feeds to your reader, more feeds as people don’t update as often as they should

Choose sites to comment on where you’ll get the most benefits

How to comment

Your mantra should be “praise in public, punish in private”. If your comment is to correct the blogger, then do so in private ie by email or private message. A good blogger will thank you for this, you’ve not embarrassed them on their own site.

This doesn’t mean your comments should be sycophantic, but they most certainly shouldn’t provoke a war. I’ve seen this happen too many times and actively make a point not to visit blogs where fighting and name-calling in the comments happen.

Comments like “great post” will make you look like a spammer. Take one section of the post and formulate a comment around that. Ask a question in your comment and you’ll get a response. This starts a conversation and is great networking!

How often should you comment?

If you share target audience with the other blogger you should comment on pretty much every post. Aim to comment on 10 different posts a week. Commenting is something you can do when you’re procrastinating, when you’re waiting for something, during commercials etc. If you’re using commenting for networking purposes, then you may want to schedule specific times to leave comments.

Blog commenting according to some people is being replaced with social commenting, so make the most of it while you can 😉

“Punishing” in public doesn’t serve anyone, or make the blog owner feel good. It might make the commenter feel good, but they’ll always be remembered as a mean person. I’ve worked with someone who said everyone who commented and didn’t agree with her was mean, and she refused to publish those comments. It was a tough habit to break her from.

I agree with Angela, thanks Sarah, for this great information. I’m getting a Feedly account and will start to focus on commenting right away. It’s so good to hear you talk about giving negative feedback privately. It makes a lot of sense and I wish more people follow this as a matter of courtesy.Tree recently posted..Use Automatic to Trump your WillpowerTwitter: getbettermoney

I used to use Feedly a lot so much get back into the habit, but it changed format a while ago and I lost a lot of my blog lists for some reason. Will make this Sunday evening’s task!Jenny Andersson recently posted..A Challenge WordcloudTwitter: hikerciser

Some very useful information, Sarah. Thank you. I’ve used bloglovin’ as my blog reader for a while, I’d not heard of feedly. Maybe I should check it out.Fiona Sefton recently posted..Great Yorkshire Run 10KTwitter: TupperwareYork

Hmm Sarah, I never thought of it like that at all – how silly am I? I’ve really enjoyed reading some blogs but its difficult finding the time! 🙂 Thankfully I haven’t found the need to “punish” anyone in their blogs!Twitter: melicos

I have no system for reading and commenting on blog posts I am just rather haphazard about it all so I now intend to check out what is involved with Feedly, thanks for the tip Sarah.
I have really enjoyed reading your posts in the challenge Angela.Twitter: rosa_lingerie

Hi Angela! 🙂 I’ve visited your blog before – and will now make it a point to visit more often!

Sarah, I’ve found that for blogs like mine, which are not really niche-based, comments are rather like the lifeblood that holds the community together and keeps up a conversation. The best reward is seeing commenters I’ve known for several years, consistently visiting and never missing a post.

I use BlogLovin to stay updated on the blogs I follow – the daily digest is ideal. Also – Facebook group are a boon to keep track via the sharing threads we maintain.

Thanks for the advice Sarah. I’m going to print this off as I have a feeling commenting is far more important that I’ve been giving credit to and , whilst I have been commenting, I want to approach it in a more structured way to gain better insights, expand my own knowledge, and make some valuable connections. This is definitely something I want to mull over!Sam Pilling recently posted..Friday Top Tip for Growing your BusinessTwitter: bitememarketing

I’m horrible about leaving comments. I usually LOVE what I read but am never quite sure what to say about it. Just saying, ‘great post’ doesn’t seem adequate! Am going to make myself get better at this! THANKS Sarah~Twitter: easanceofafamily

Sarah this is so great. I really need to get better at commenting regularly. I will comment here and there, but I appreciate your no-nonsense advice about just doing it. It’s important, I know it is. I just don’t make it a priority right now. So that will be my new goal – to increase my outreach AND my visibility! Thanks!Jessica Aiduk recently posted..The True Story of How My Husband Jinxed Himself into Marrying MeTwitter: jessaiduk

This is such great advice. I always feel awkward leaving comments, which is super dumb because I love receiving them and most of the blogs I read excite me in some way. I will have to check out Feedly; I’ve never tried it. And thank you, thank you, thank you for reminding people not to start wars… I, too, make a point to not visit blogs or sites that are always bickering. My time is too precious for that.Katrina recently posted..Snack Time: Camembert on Baguette

Thank you for this great advice Sarah, I will check out Feedly for sure and get in to a more consistent habit with commenting. I find it great to build communities this way too, just need to be consistent with it which I haven’t so far.Miranda recently posted..Asking for HelpTwitter: miralahealth

Thanks for these tips Sarah. I find I am guilty in going in spurts when it comes to commenting. Am regrouping my business for the new year and plan on becoming more consistent with this.Twitter: suefleckenstein

I prefer blog commenting to social commenting because the comment (and conversation) stays with the post. If the conversation happens where it was shared, that conversation gets lost and forgotten by people as soon as other things push it out of view in the feed. If someone only has options to comment via certain platforms or captcha, I often don’t bother (though I might do a social comment). I used to avoid Blogger blogs except all but my favorites because they often used that (although I have noticed lately those have been replaced by a “I’m not a robot” checkbox which is easy enough). In addition to visibility, one of the best things about blog commenting is building relationships. Although many comments are “single serving” interactions, I have a few commenters on my blog whose blog I also comment on and we consider each other friends.Amanda P recently posted..A Slice of American-Tasting Pizza in Germany: Pizza AttackTwitter: phoenixxphyre

Thanks for such useful info Sarah. I had Feedly installed but never really used it. I have been really enjoying commenting since I started this challenge. I used to do it for my cardmaking blog but never actively did it for my biz which is crazy! It’s been lovely building traffic to my site and also interacting with others on theirs 🙂Twitter: ruby_mcguire

I agree with the criticize in private but it becomes hard in my case. The reason being there are so many bloggers in the Travel niche that feel the need to write negative posts. I know why they do it. It gets traffic. All I have to do is put up an article with the headline ” Why I think Singapore Sucks” I know I will get lots of traffic and in some cases referred to on several other websites. To me that’s cheap and I don’t do it. As a result I have a hard time commenting on the post without calling them out for what they are doing.Bob recently posted..The Ultimate List of Airfare Booking Sites

Interactive comments are what really make a blog great. The late blogger known as Ozarque did wonderful, quirky posts, but what’s kept me reading her blog even after she’s gone is the endless web of almost equally wonderful, informative, entertaining links and comments people posted below Ozarque’s thought-for-the-day.Priscilla King recently posted..GreetingsTwitter: 5PriscillaKing

I learned long ago in teaching that praising in public and punishing in private in brought way more results than doing those things the other way round. There are some blogs that when i read the comments sound like the commenter is trying to start a old time flame war.
I have even seen comments where the person is trying to correct the blogger’s grammar or argues with their word choice. I suppose in an effort to make themselves seem smart, but they really just come off looking mean.Michael Shook recently posted..Cure For The Busy DiseaseTwitter: alifeoflight

thank you, Sarah. I do comment whenever possible, be it on G+, facebook or on other websites/blogs. keeping the number to 10 per week sounds do-able! I have added comment luv recently too going by your advice on one of the task emails! Nearly half my day gets taken up in responding to comments. This leaves me wondering as to how to streamline my dedicated comment timing….Anupama recently posted..Tofu Sprouts Rice &#8211; Chilli Tofu &#8211; Sweetcorn Tofu CroquettesTwitter: easybitesonline

Hi Sarah, thanks for article. As always lots of information and techniques are passed to us. I haven’t really explored feeds. I’ve got RSS feeds and I read that it was best to turn that off; so I did. I’ll check out the Feedly one.
I’ve seen a lot of puffy, puffy stuff going on in the forums. There was a comment on Linkedin where a writer was openly challenged about grammar by an editor. I though it was totally unnecessary and there’s too many people trying to nail their flag to someone else’s pole. Marketing is marketing and often is a win, win but to put others down in order to promote yourself is BAD.

I’ve seen it said loads of times that you should comment on other blogs to increase your own traffic, but no-one ever explains it like this. Usually there is some reference to backlinks to your own blog and that’s it. This all makes sense, but there seem to be so many different systems now all competing to manage comments that I’m not sure what is the best way. To be honest, I’m not even sure what I’m using on my blog!Susan Wilkinson recently posted..Fitness in Chelmsford – what’s available?Twitter: bodyshape_essex

You are right Susan, I would have never understood how much commenting was until I read this post! I just joined Comment Luv and can not wait for someone to post on my website!! I need to do better with commenting in general and be more specific on what I am commenting about. I always reply to comments left on either my social media or on my website but it needs to be better…. thank you again Sarah!!Anna Welliver recently posted..The Best Of Anna&#8217;s World Round Up!!Twitter: awelliver13

Getting focused on commenting also allows you to discover other great bloggers out there as you try to find nice content to engage with. I use Bloglovin’ as I like the interface better but I think it’s pretty similar to Feedly. Must admit I should be commenting more on my favourite blogs though. Sometimes it’s quite hard to get readers to comment on yours, even if you ask them to or ask a question to start a conversation going…Very nice article Sarah – thank you.nicole recently posted..The Best of Pomegranate This Week 2-7 March 2015Twitter: pomegranatelive

Wow! Informative indeed. I think I will check out feedly to stay on track. I have been wondering how to do that!
Do you know if there’s any way to get commentluv for blogger? I tried Intense debate, but found it a bit complicated since I have to moderate comments from there rather than from blogger.kimberly recently posted..RECIPE: Quick and easy Tomato-Onion Uttapam

This idea of commenting seems like a good idea but what about when someone’s blog is in BlogSpot.com or something other than wordpress.com? Is a commenting relationship as good with those that are not part of wordpress?

Thanks for all of this info. I’ve heard about Feedly from a few different sources now so will definitely check it out. I also need to schedule some time to comment more often now that I know how beneficial it is! Thanks again.Twitter: chicadjs

Although I do like to comment on posts and try to do it regularly, this post taught me things i didn’t know, such as always commenting on posts by a person in the same field as me, and commenting on at least 10 posts per week. Excellent!Eleanor McKenzie recently posted..#SWO 10 Questions You Should Ask Before MarriageTwitter: ElleMac

Love the suggestions. When I first started my travel blog, I joined Travel Bloggers Mega Share, a group on Facebook, and these people have been inspirational. We all need some comment loving!Twitter: travelwithmrst

Sarah,I have really enjoyed your post. I have not heard of feedly before but I will check it out. I will definitely work on taking the time to comment on other great posts that I read.Thanks,Imgard.Twitter: iekokobe

Thank you so much. Sarah. I have been going on to the winning women about comment in on posts and you are giving us the reasons for comment in. This is great . as a Non tecky but an
Emerging one lol, I am still a bit puzzled about feels. Are you goinginto more details in another blog and would you be my guest blogging with this post in the coming days? Thank you Helene

Thanks Sarah. How timely to read an article on posting comments since today I received a very complimentary comment from a manager at one of the larger art museums in my city on my most recent post. I can’t wait to check out Feedly and Comment Luv to see what they’re all about.

Lovely post 🙂 I already figured most of this out and tried to get comments from share groups until I reach more visability, but I am not sure weather I like those, most peoples comments are a bit spammy :/ but I will try out feedly now instead and check out some of the other tools…thank you for hosting this and thanks Sarah 🙂Sabine recently posted..Meditation Challenge- 10 weeks to inner peace- WEEK 7&8

This is one of the things I’ve really enjoyed about this challenge – you learn something new everyday. I’ve never heard of the commenting systems or feedly, but all these challenges create a jigsaw which when added, piece by piece, make blogging enjoyable and easier and very worth while.Twitter: kayjay338

I try very hard to make sure I comment on blogs when I feel I have something to contribute. I am going to check out feedly as I know I am missing stuff with so many e-mails from different blogs coming in!Twitter: ihelmenterprise

I have to be very honest, since I have been back at full time work I have barely had the time to write my own blogs let alone read anybody elses. Though I always have time for Trenna Sue! I am going to try from now on, now that I understand the relevence of it. Thank you Sarah as always well explained.Twitter: thehatlady1

I didn’t realize all the information unknown to me. I found commenting to be the very point on how my likes have increased on Facebook. I have discovered new blogs to follow just be reading other comments. Thanks for all this information. It has been a tremendous help.

Thanks for this. I have also set up Feedly again to see if I can be more disciplined. I read lots of blogs but usually find them via my Twitter Feed when I am supposed to be sleeping! During this challenge I have forced myself to read the blogs of others doing the challenge and have met some great people who do fascinating things.Twitter: trishpp

I didn’t realize how much leaving a comment benefited me. I leave comments regularly to show support for fellow bloggers. Thanks for the info. I am looking into Comment Luv and the Feedly plugin today.

Great advice, thank you. I had one lady who was quite challenging with her comments on one blog I wrote “Are freebies good for your business”. She eventually inboxed me to apologise. I obviously pressed a button or two! xx

Just the other day I had a question in the 30 Day Blogging Challence group of why I was using Disqus.

Here’s my answer again: “Disqus works for me, it gives me the ability to keep an eye on the comments anywhere, via email. Just like I can see the discussions and analytics clearly; potentially across multiple domains/sites.”

This is all really good information. I have gotten out of the habit of using Feedly, as most of the blogs I follow update on FB, but I will go back to it and see how much impact I notice it making. Question about commenting on FB…should I “like” pages under both my personal name (so it is counted) and my business account (so that comments will come from there?)Michelle H recently posted..White Sands National Monument: New Mexico’s White WonderlandTwitter: alocalwander

Thank you Sarah for this very helpful information. I have just 1 question (and I do hope that you will excuse my ignorance but I am not great with the terminology) but what does ◾Add Feeds to your reader, mean? What are feeds and what is a reader.

Hi Sarah
I usually comment on the blogs that I read – largely because as a Blogger I appreciate when people comment on it. But have never made a system or habit out of it. KNowing the time crunch that I usually have, I will download Feedly on my phone and use it as and when I have small pockets of time. Once again, thanks for this new nugget of information!. This journey has been awesome throughout!

A blog friend recently wrote an interesting post about how people are leaving less comments on her blog and set herself a challenge to post 300 comments in 30 days. http://notesonpaper.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/why-im-leaving-300-blog-comments-in-30.html
Some challenge! It was very insightful and left me thoughtful.
And at that very same time I discovered this challenge. It seemed more fitting with my needs, so here I am, 26 days in!!
You make some really good points here, some of which are so obvious but I hadn’t seen. So thank you. I have been commenting more since starting this challenge (and would have done anyway because of what I learnt from my friends experience). I have reconnected with people I stopped visiting regularly and gained new regular commenters.
I have various reasons for leaving comments. Some because I would like to be more visible, but others because we share an interest and have become friends. And I agree, a meaningful comment makes so much difference to how I am left feeling. Some comments make me smile, laugh, feel like I’ve had a warm hug, or thoughtful, or inspired. So much to gain! I need to work on being more efficient with my time and focus.Twitter: withsandie

This challenge has been so helpful!!! I have struggled to maintain the daily posting. However, I’m in the process of putting together a 20-Day series that will go on my website. It will include all of Sarah’s tips! =) Thanks for teaching us!Twitter: seidafthc

Usually I just comment when I have something eventful to say. But these are some great tips to keep myself up to date and in the loop. Thanks for this!Chel recently posted..The Walking Dead Heads UpTwitter: ohchelblog

If for some reason I move on from CommentLuv (which I do like the way it is laid out!), will those comments stay on my blog? In regards to Feedly and getting started, how do you decide which profile to sign-in with?Christi recently posted..Mannheimer WeihnachtsmarktTwitter: keeponwinking

It’s interesting that commenting and the system we use is useful for different people and the blog itself. I guess this is all part of knowing your target audience & finding a system which works best to build relationships with those potential customers.Twitter: tracey_jane

I did set up my reader in WP, but have to admit that I don’t look at it. much. I do sometimes find commenting on blog posts that are my niche market, uncomfortable, possibly because from my research I could not find a blog like mine for either my country, South Africa, nor ones for England or Australia. The 4 blogs in my niche that I follow are all written for America, and I often feel as if I am commenting for the sake of commenting, because their content on coupons or decluttering or budgeting are not applicable, and then I feel like I am being spammy. I try and comment every day, but I can’t say that I have noticed any increase in traffic since I started this 4 months ago. My blog though is quite new (9 months old).Twitter: adibog

I’ve not used feedly before but I will vheck it out now! Commenting is so good for networking as well! I love reading other people’s posts but have only been commenting since I’ve been blogging myself. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!Twitter: yogaberryuk

I agree commenting is a good way to establish more contact with your audience and fellow bloggers. I do notice I’ve a hard time keeping up with commenting on other blogs as well as keeping my social media channels active. Time for me to start scheduling more things. 🙂Rachel recently posted..Football (Soccer) Recipes and IdeasTwitter: cakieshq

Thanks for the tips Sarah. I had heard of Feedly but wasn’t sure how to implement that, so will put that on this weeks to do list. It’s also good to get some suggestions of what to write, I also like your email in the 30 Day Blogginh Challenge about how to structure your comments. I have started to see a lot of negative commenting on LinkedIn and I feel the nature of it is changing. Will be interesting to see how it changes in the next few years and if it just becomes another social media platform rather than business.Twitter: Njdconsulting

Thank you for recommending Feedly. I’m going to sign up as soon as I finish commenting here. No, first I’m going to write today’s post for the 30-Day Challenge. Then I’ll sign up for Feedly!Twitter: terryberriest

Hi Sarah,
Never heard of Feedly, I must download the app as I do most of my comments on my iPad. I do follow the problogger a weekly roundup. I quite enjoy reading them. Thanks for sharing and giving me another tool that I can use.Bea recently posted..How to Avoid And Get Rid of Writer’s BlockTwitter: Netsuccessbim1

I think commenting is a great idea 🙂 I just struggle with getting it all in. The commenting, pinning,sharing etc. I’m like a little turtle. Hopefully, I will get faster with practice.Cynthia Devening recently posted..How to Create A Pre-Workout Survival KitTwitter: deveningfitness

Seems commenting is more important than I realised, I thought it was just a way of people getting your email address to inundate me with emails I didn’t want! Must sort out my facebook, twitter and pintrest! Thank you for all the info and insight again.